A thief mentioned rumors of an ancient castle
under the Figaro Desert, so let's try taking Figaro Castle back
underground and see if anything happens.

ここの地そう…おかしいのかな？
ひっかかるのよ……何かに。

Is this stratum... somehow odd?
We got caught on... something.

There's something odd about this stratum...
It's as if we've bumped into something...

Stop the castle and head to the opening
in the dungeons to find a strange cave...

Subterranean Cave

"The Serpent Trench" plays.
Expect monsters, of course. Most in this area
are weak against Holy but have innate
'reflect', so weapons like the Holy Lance work well. Chests in the
cave contain an Ether Turbo, a Wing Edge, Death's Cards, a
Magicite Shard, and an X-Potion,
but watch out for the one that
contains the Tonberry Master,
the deadliest monster found in a treasure chest anywhere
in this game, and one of only a few to have boss music.

Like the Tonberries in the chest in Umaro's cave,
the Tonberry Master will gradually approach, using Carving Knife (800%
damage) when it gets too close, though it only retreats partway
after that. Unlike those Tonberries, it also uses Barrier Change with
every step, and that's as annoying as ever. It also uses Pacing
Damage as a random counter attack, which can be quite deadly,
depending. Furthermore, its attacks vary depending on its current
weakness, covering seven of the eight elements, so comprehensive
resistance is a big help. However, it's vulnerable to 'sleep', so
knowing that and taking advantage should make the battle go
smoothly. Add in some 'slow' and 'poison' for good measure,
though note that the poisoning isn't likely to do any good if Barrier
Change has occurred.

More specifically,
the attacks it uses are:
Blizzaga
when weak to Flame,
Figa
when weak to Ice,
Tornado
when weak to Thunder,
Quake
when weak to Water,
Great Tidal Wave
when weak to Earth,
Thundaga
when weak to Wind,
Bio
when weak to Holy, and
Holy
when weak to Poison.
All attacks but Carving Knife are magical and require
MP, so depleting it is also an option, but keep in mind
that Pacing Damage only costs 1 MP for monsters.

Steal an Elixir (common) or Last Elixir (rare),
and win for the Gladius, a powerful Holy
dagger that nearly any character can use.

Continue on to find a save point at the bottom
of one stairway, with another stairway leading deeper inward.

Ancient Castle

Hey, there's a castle lying in ruins here.

『ここは……？

"Where are we...?"

What the...?

The screen scrolls upward, then takes
on a sepia tint as the music stops. Several soldiers emerge
from the gates, with the screen shaking. Magic blasts them off
their feet, and another soldier steps out.

「幻獣の攻撃だ！！
こちらも幻獣をだせ！！！

: A Genjuu attack!!
Deploy our Genjuu too!!!

It's an Esper attack!
Let's show him some of OUR Esper magic!

The flashback fades, returning
the focus to the party.

『１０００年前の……

"A thousand years ago..."

A 1000 years in the past, a battle was waged here...

The flashback resumes,
now inside the castle.

「こちらの幻獣はもう
オーディン殿しかおりませぬ！
「けがはなおったのか？

: No Genjuu of ours are
left but Sir Odin!
: Are his wounds healed?

Only Odin is here!
Are your wounds healed?

「しかたあるまい…
最後の決戦、オーディン殿に
すべてをたくす…

: We don't have much choice...
We fully entrust the final
deciding battle to Sir Odin...

We're fresh outta options.
We'll have to leave this battle in Odin's hands...

The flashback fades,
again returning the focus to the party.

『魔大戦でほろびた都市……

"A city destroyed in the Great Magic War..."

A city, ruined during the War of the Magi...

The flashback resumes in another
indoor area. A knight on horseback faces a group of cloaked
figures.

斬鉄剣！

Zantetsuken!

Atom Edge!

Charging forward, the knight cleaves
them all in half. Another cloaked figure enters and faces
off with the knight.

斬鉄剣！

Zantetsuken!

Atom Edge!

But it doesn't work. The cloaked figure
taunts, then rushes him. The knight turns grey.

ｵｰﾃﾞｨﾝ「やるな…
この私を石化するとは……

Odin: Not bad...
Never expected you to petrify me...

ODIN: Don't do it...
You can't turn me into Magicite...

A tip of the hat to Final Fantasy V,
where a Break-enchanted sword is the best way to beat Odin,
though the real trouble is stealing from him first...

The flashback fades again,
and the usual music resumes.

『古い、言い伝えで聞いたことがある…
城の大広間で行われた魔導師と
幻獣オーディンの戦い…

"I've heard of it in ancient legends...
A master sorcerer and the Genjuu Odin
battled in the castle's great hall..."

There's an ancient legend...
It tells of a battle between
Odin and a powerful sorcerer
that took place in a great
hall of the castle...

Search to the right
of the main door to find a room with the Punisher, an oddball
rod that tries to be a fighter's weapon. To the left is another door,
this one with another monster in a chest that gets boss
music.

Samurai Soul
has all sorts of interesting and potentially nasty things in its script, but
simply inflicting 'confusion' or using Sketch should finish the battle
in short order, as each has a decent chance to yield Assassination
Sword, killing it dead despite instant death immunity.

Attacks faced if fighting conventionally
include Katon, Suiton, Raijin, Murder Gale, Shockwave,
and Thousand Needles. It responds to every six Battle
commands by using Assassination Sword on a random
character. Every three uses of Magic or Memorized Techniques
are met with Throwing an Asura or Kunai (over 8000 damage
to a single character), then using Coin Toss (3660 total damage
spread evenly across all allies) on the next turn. Additionally,
after forty seconds of battle, Saumrai Soul pulses, gaining
'decoy' and 'reflect' status (but due to 'slow' immunity, fails
to gain 'haste' as scripted).

サムライソウルはパワーをあげた

Samurai Soul increased power.

KatanaSoul's power up!

Samurai Soul is weak against
Poison and vulnerable
to 'poison'. Take advantage of this if using instant death
doesn't seem sporting.

Steal for a Murasame (common) or
Ame no Murakumo (rare), and win for the Proof of Initiation,
an accessory that (in short) makes fighters hit four times at
half damage per hit. This has plenty of potential, but works
best with weapons boasting unusual abilities that aren't
negated by it.

On a side note, this is the only
monster in a treasure chest that you can run away from.
Don't run away from it. The
chest will remain open, preventing you from initiating battle
again, and you'll never be able to get the item.

Enter the castle proper to find Odin's
petrified remains.

オーディンはくだけちり
魔石となった……

Odin shattered and
became magicite...

Odin turned into a
Magicite shard...

Odin kills all enemies (or tries to) when summoned,
(slowly) teaches Meteor, and is
the only Genjuu to provide an agility bonus on level up.

Look around to find an Ether Super in a bucket,
as well as chests containing a Gold Headdress and the
Snowstorm Orb. The orb enables Umaro's Snowstorm attack when
worn and gives him a magic bonus to help back it up. Of more
storyline interest is the sparkling book in one room.

Gems sparkle on a book's cover...
"Princess's Diary"
...I do indeed love Odin-sama...
A thing which cannot be allowed...
But none can bind a person's heart.
Still less my heart, which longs
for him with his lofty heart...
None can censure me...
When this battle ends...
I shall surely...
pour out these feelings of mine...

A book,
with a gem-
encrusted cover...
Queen's Diary
I realize, now, that I am in love with Odin...
This...breaks every rule of our society.
But my heart longs for this noble, elegant man.
How could anyone blame me?
After the fighting is over I'm going to bare my soul to him...

If present.

{ﾃｨﾅ}「人と幻獣の恋……

{Tina}: Love between human and Genjuu...

{TERRA}: Love between a human and an Esper...

That seems to be all that's here,
but is it?

フィガロ城
Figaro Castle
FIGARO CASTLE

After finding the castle buried
underground, talk to the scholars in the library.

この砂漠の下に１０００年前の都市が
うまっていたとは…
古文書でその都市のことを
調べてみました。
なんのことかはわからないのですが…

「王女は立ち上がり５歩進むと……」

Amazing that a millenium-old city
was buried under this desert...
I tried investigating ancient writings
to learn more about that city.
I don't know what this means, but...

"When the princess rises and takes five steps..."

Ancient texts I'm studying speak of a "1000 year-old city beneath the sand."
I wonder what this means,
...when the queen stands and takes 5 steps...

Well, this bears investigating.

Ancient Castle

Search five steps down from the throne
on the righthand side of the screen to find a hidden switch that
opens a secret passage in the princess's room. Here, we find
that...

『王女までも…
石化されて……

"Even the princess...
was turned to stone..."

Even the Queen was turned to stone...

『石から…
『涙……？

"The stone is..."
"Crying...?"

A tear comes...
From the stone...?

魔石「オーディン」がレベルアップ…
魔石「ライディーン」に！

The magicite Odin levels up...
becoming the magicite Raideen!

The Magicite "Odin" gains
a level...
and becomes the Magicite
"Raiden!"

Odin and his agility bonus are gone,
but Raideen is the only source of the arguably overpowered
Quick
spell.

There aren't any random encounters down
here. Maybe the dragon ate them all. Yes, there's a dragon.
Throw on some waterproofing and have at it.

Unsurprisingly, the
Blue Dragon uses and
absorbs Water while sporting
a weakness to Thunder.
Though it also uses physical attacks with some frequency,
the lack of variety should make it easy to deal with. Gau should
Rage Aspilance for appropriate absorption paired with the
powerful 1000 Kilovolts attack. If partial to status effects, 'slow'
and 'poison' will work. However, avoid using 'haste' status on
the party, since the dragon tends to steal it.

Specifically, if any character has
'haste' status, the Blue Dragon will, at most once every few
turns, cast Slow on itself
followed by Ripple on that character to swap status effects,
unless it already has 'haste' or 'protect' status. You could also
set this off deliberately if Stragus is in the party and hasn't
learned that skill yet, and he can learn the Great Tidal Wave
the dragon opens with as well.

If you feel like playing with the Kappa
equipment set, this is a great battle for it, thanks to the absorption.
Give someone 'kappa' status, equip with Sagojou's Spear,
Carapace Shield, Dish, and Armor Kappa, optionally combining
with the Wyrmknight's Boots and Wyvern's Horn, and the battle
should be a breeze.

Beat the dragon for the Zantetsuken, which
is, appropriately enough, Odin's weapon. It has a random chance
to slay its target outright, even undead monsters, and is probably
the best weapon for Cayenne, since the only more powerful one
he can naturally use is otherwise completely unremarkable.

The connection did not fare well in
translation, making this a "Scimitar" with no apparent
link to Odin's "Atom Edge" or Raideen's "True
Edge". They could have called it the "Slicer" and
made Raideen's summon something like "Neo Slicer"
to preserve the upgraded feel, and all without exceeding any
character limits.

８竜 あと３ひき

Eight Dragons: Three more left

3 dragons left.

Unused combat text for this
dragon:

ブルードラゴンは仲間を呼んだ！
アースドラゴンしょうかん！

Blue Dragon called an ally!
Summoned the Earth Dragon!

Blue Dragon called its pal!
Dirt Dragon summoned!

Okay, this time that's everything.

Tower of the Cefca Fanatics

Once confident in the party's stock of magic
and equipment setup, consider warily returning to this tower.
Bring plenty of supplies.

This is the tower of the Cefca Fanatics.
I hear that on the top floor is one heck of
a treasure...
But you can't use anything but magic inside.
Unless you can use super strong magic,
you'll be toast in no time if you try climbing it.

The members of the "Cult of Kefka" live in this tower.
There's something wondrous atop it!
You can only use magic attacks inside, so unless your magic's strong, you'll never make it to the top!

And there's the problem with this place.
Both a good command of magic and good defense against
it will be all but essential.

All characters except Gogo and Umaro
will have Magic (or Chain Magic if using a Soul of Thamasa) and
Items as their only commands (other than Change and Defend,
of course). Gogo keeps Mimicry, keeps Items if set, and gets
Magic if Battle (not Magic) is set. Stragus's Memorized Techniques
are NOT available despite conceptually being magic, and neither
are any other magic-like abilities. The exception is that Umaro acts
no differently from usual, which can be an advantage but is typically
not worth the unpredicability or the lack of equipment options.
Characters (and monsters) in 'berserk' status will also attack
physically as usual.

Physical attack and defense are useless
(unless tossing 'berserk' or a Sonic Dive into the mix), so focus
on enhancements and magical defenses. Load up on all the
elemental immunities and absorptions, or at least resistances,
possible. Force Shields are made for this place, and the
oddball Kappa equipment set works well too, since its impressive
magic defense works regardless. The Hero's Shield, Force Armor,
and Minerva Bustier are other excellent equipment choices, but
then, they always are, so no surprise there. Status immunity
(Ribbon) is another good thing to have, as is immunity to instant
death (Safety Bit or Memento Ring). Reflect Rings may also help,
and many guides go as far as to insist that everyone wear one at
all times, but some enemies will bounce spells off themselves or
use unreflectable magic, so don't assume that's nearly enough to
ensure safety.

Of course, Mog can use Moruru's Charm
to skip all but the boss battles, but where's the fun in that?
Either way, here's a quick rundown of the enemies encountered
in the tower. The HP of each numbered enemy is ten times the
level in its name (which is NOT its actual level).

Magic Level 20:
Pudgy little mages in mustard robes.
These have innate 'reflect' and no weaknesses,
and like to use nasty spells that include
Graviga and
Dejon. A
Dejon of your own is probably
the best way to handle them.

Magic Level 30:
Dancers in green.
No particularly interesting attacks. Petrify them for a quick kill,
or take advantage of their Poison
weakness.

Magic Level 40:
Floating with
umbrellas. They may counter with status magic, but
Break and
Drain are their only
offense. Use Thunder
against them.

Magic Level 50:
Lichs with big
pink smoke clouds. Not too impressive, so hit them with
Flame or
Holy, or revive them.

Magic Level 70:
Fiery mages.
They use the -ga attack spells and have innate 'reflect'.
Use Dejon to save yourself
the trouble of trying to bounce spells at them.

Magic Level 80:
Ladies in orange.
These respond to 'reflect' status on allies or enemies, changing
tactics to bounce offensive or healing magic as appropriate.
Break makes short work
of them, though.

Magic Level 90:
Evil, evil, flying
witchy things. These have innate 'reflect' and love to use
Flare,
Meteor, and
Melton. All ignore magic
defense, and all but the first are also unreflectable. You can
use elemental defenses to avoid damage from the last one,
but it also heals them, so it's still annoying regardless.
There's no quick and dirty way to kill these, but you can make
things easier by bouncing
Stop off someone.
Naturally, Ultima works
too, but that goes without saying.

Magic Pot:
Purple goblins in jars.
Aside from being a shout-out to FF5, these are actually friendly.
They use healing items on your party (or revival magic if
someone's downed), but may run away after each action or when
attacked. Additionally, they absorb every element and are
immune to every status ailment possible. Make sure to encounter
some, since they appear on the Beast Plain, and Gau gets all
these defensive benefits plus
Curega with the
Rage.

Enter the door in the first section to find
a Safety Bit, then search to the right of the chest as suggested
by the thief in Maranda to find a hidden switch. This opens another
room a floor down that contains the Air Anchor, Edgar's final
Machine, with the oddball effect of a delayed instant-death that
can't miss, barring immunity. The Air Anchor room also contains
no enemies except Magic Pots, so feel free to take advantage
of that. The second segment of the tower has a room with a
Genji's Shield, then the third has a Kagenui for Shadow and
a roaming dragon for killing.

The
Holy Dragon is a pushover if
properly prepared. The only actions it can take are casting
Holy normally and
Dispel as a counterattack.
It absorbs Holy and has no
weaknesses, but the status vulnerabilites are glaring. Not
only do 'slow' and 'stop' work, but so does 'silence', shutting
it down completely. It's sad, really.

Steal (with a berserked character and
a Thief's Knife) for an X-Potion (common) or Holy Lance
(rare). Winning also gives a scripted Holy Lance.

「ホーリーランス」を手に入れた！

Got a Holy Lance!

Got "Pearl Lance"!

８竜 あと２ひき

Eight Dragons: Two more left

2 dragons left.

Unused combat text for this
dragon:

ホーリードラゴンは仲間を呼んだ！
レッドドラゴンしょうかん！

Holy Dragon called an ally!
Summoned the Red Dragon!

White Dragon called its pal!
Red Dragon summoned!

Inexplicably, the conceptually unique
Holy Dragon will appear on the Beast Plain, giving a chance
to steal more Holy Lances. It's also a solid Rage for Gau.

Continue to the fourth section, where the
room contains a Force Armor, then on to finally reach the roof,
which has a room of its own. Enter to find a chest with the Soul
of Thamasa, a unique accessory that disables summoning
but allows the user to cast two spells per turn. Equip it on a
good spellcaster immediately, since the fanatics have noticed
the party's intrusion and block escape as soon as they leave
the room (even if the chest was only approached and not
actually opened).

ケフカさまの おたから～
おたから～ かえせ～

Cefca-sama's treeeeasure...
Give baaaack... the treeeeasure...

Master Kefka's treasure...
Return it... Now...!

A cloaked figure comes up the stairs, flies
around a little, then attacks. And so the battle with the
Magic Master, quite possibly
That
One Boss of the game, begins. The battle is a pain for three
main reasons. First, it's still in this tower, so actions are limited to
magic, items, or uncontrollable characters in the form of 'berserk'
or Umaro. Second, every attack against him will be countered with
Barrier Change, which means his weakness keeps changing,
while every element but his weakness will either heal him or have
no effect. Third and most painfully, upon running out of health,
Magic Master will cast Ultima.
There is no way to prevent this except depleting his 50,000 MP,
there is no way to avoid it except by being in the middle of a jump
when it occurs, there is no way to seal it because skills are unavailable,
and there is no way to block, dodge, or otherwise defend against
the damage. With Magic Master's level and stats, the spell
will inflict over 5,400 damage at minimum against
multiple characters, and if there's only a single target to take
the hit, that's 9,999 guaranteed.

Fortunately, his regular attacks are less
of a problem despite his high magic power, since all can be
reflected, all can be blocked, and all can be absorbed or
nullified with the right setup. He favors
Figa,
Blizzaga, and
Thundaga,
and throws in an occassional
Fira,
Blizzara,
Thundara,
Death,
Bio, or
Silence for
variety. Use Reflect Rings or appropriate defensive gear,
and the bulk of the battle will pose no danger.

The easiest tactic is to equip the
party with Reflect Rings, cast
Reraise on at least one
character, and wait. As long as you don't do anything to Magic
Master directly, he won't use Barrier Change, leaving him with
normal vulnerability to all elements. This means his own spells
will eventually kill him. Once he runs out of health, he'll cast
Ultima, but everyone with
'reraise' in place will recover, so you win. If you don't have
Reflect Rings on or he's already used Barrier Change,
just cast Berserk on him
(he's somehow vulnerable) and
Vanish on your characters
to avoid all damage until that final spell (status effects are cleared
on death, so he'll still cast it despite 'berserk'), then either find his
weakness and exploit it if possible or bring him down with
non-elemental attacks.

There are a few alternate strategies,
too. You can drain his MP until he can't cast
Ultima, but take note of
that 50,000 total and realize that it isn't going to be quick. You
can carefully watch his HP and summon Quetzal when he's
on the brink of death, which means victory as long as someone's
still in the air when Ultima
goes off, but if you mistime it, you're out of luck. Finally, it's
possible to raise your health high enough to survive
Ultima. If attempting this,
aim for over 6,200 hit points, stay healed up, and make sure
to have at least two characters alive so that the damage will
be halved, otherwise no amount of health will save you.

It's kind of funny that while Magic Master
does have high magic power for a monster (25 in a game where
few are over 10), it's not the highest, or even in the top five, but
in a five-way tie for seventh place.

A 'berserk' character with a Thief's Knife
can steal a Crystal Orb (rare) or an Elixir (common). Winning
nets a Last Elixir, plus getting to keep that Soul of Thamasa.
The fanatics make no further efforts to hinder the party's
departure, having left the roof entirely by the time the battle
ends. However, the regular random encounters are still there,
and it's impossible to warp out of the tower, so have Moruru's
Charm handy or else be ready for more battle.